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New Year's Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Oji, 1857

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)

One of the most evocative Japanese woodblock prints of all time and a Hiroshige masterwork, this incredible image depicts the legend of foxes gathering around a tree near Oji Inari Shrine on New Year's Eve. There, they would change into clothes before paying a visit to the shrine, where they would receive directions for the coming year from the Shinto deity Inari. In Japanese folklore, foxes were considered magical creatures with special abilities, including shape-shifting, and were often mischievous pranksters. Here, the foxes meet at the base of the tree, breathing out magical foxfires, the red orange flames flickering around them. Dozens of foxes can be seen approaching in the distance, the fields dotted with orange flames beneath a sky filled with twinkling stars. A fantastic Hiroshige design, considered one of the best of the series, with fine bokashi shading in the night sky.

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by Takato Yamamoto

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by HanWen Chen

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[Mebuki] haunting art piece by Shiori Matsura, depicting scorned lover Kiyohime (I'd translate the title as "budding hatred").

Ressent toward monk Anchin will soon turn her into a monstruous snake (as hinted by her uroko/scales patterned coat). You can find another occurence of the uroko coat in this famous ukiyoe by Yoshitoshi: